Baltimore Police Officers Mordechai Mandelbaum and Menachem Rosenbloom were found guilty on multiple charges on Wednesday, Oct. 14, following an encounter that ended with a surrendering man being pepper-sprayed four times and officers making false claims about what happened.
The incident began on June 26, 2025, when the officers responded to a call in the 700 block of East Chase Street and discovered that a man had left two young children unattended in his apartment.
When the man fled on foot, the officers pursued him in their patrol vehicle, with Rosenbloom driving and Mandelbaum riding in the passenger seat, prosecutors said.
Mandelbaum jumped out to chase the man, but after taking only a few steps, he lost his balance and fell face-first onto the sidewalk.
Rather than acknowledge what happened, prosecutors say, Mandelbaum climbed back into the patrol car and told his partner the man had tripped and kicked him.
Rosenbloom then radioed that the man would be wanted for assaulting an officer, even as the two cops laughed and joked about the fall.
The encounter turned violent when Rosenbloom later caught up with the man behind a group of residential buildings.
According to court documents, the man had stopped running, backed into a corner, and raised both hands to surrender when Rosenbloom sprayed him directly in the face with pepper spray.
The man immediately dropped to the ground and complied with officer, but Rosenbloom sprayed him three more times without justification,...
Baltimore Police Officers Mordechai Mandelbaum and Menachem Rosenbloom were found guilty on multiple charges on Wednesday, Oct. 14, following an encounter that ended with a surrendering man being ...